By Michael Mugerwa
The Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja led a delegation of line Ministers to visit Roofings Group Factory. She went to inspect operations and sort out emerging challenges being faced by the local steel manufacturing industries in Uganda. Roofings Rolling mills is situated in Namanve Industrial park in Kampala.
The Prime Minister’s tour of Roofings Rolling Mills, follow a call from local manufacturers, to have government award them contracts under the BUBU policy spirit. The Prime Minister was taken on a guided tour of the factory by the Roofings Group Chairman and founder Dr. Sikander Lalani.
The factory tour enabled the Premier to see a wide range of Roofings Group products, ranging from an assortment of iron bars, steel plates, roofing sheets and nails, wire products, water and electrical pipes, among other products. The line Ministers who accompanied the Prime Minister included the Minister for Tourism Francis Mwebesa and State Minister for Works Musa Ecweru.
Roofings Group Chairman Dr. Sikander Lalani appreciated government for the conducive environment that has made Uganda a preferred investment destination. Dr. Lalani acknowledged the promises government had fulfilled, which include establishment of a railway and a road network, within the industrial Park complex.
He called on government to seriously follow up on the policy of Buy Uganda Build Uganda(BUBU). ‘The BUBU policy should be encouraged within the manufacturing sector by manufacturers buying inputs from fellow manufactures in Uganda’, he said.
The Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja reiterated government’s commitment to support investments like Roofings, through the promotion of the BUBU policy. She appreciated Roofings Group for the long standing contribution to Uganda’s economy for the last 27 years. The Prime Minister took note of all the concerns and promised to constitute an inter-ministerial committee as a matter of urgency, to agree on how to support local investments in the country.
Roofings Group current investment is 320 million US Dollars and it has a direct employment of 1,500 staff. Major export destinations include; Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi. ENDS
